The 2026 Leadville 100 MTB Cometh

The Leadville 100 MTB — also known as the Race Across the Sky — returns for its 32nd edition tomorrow. We talked about how the Willow Fire forced a reroute. But what was left for us to discover was what the revised course would be.

So, here we go: same traditional start on Harrison Avenue, same St. Kevin’s climb. But instead of the traditional line toward Powerline, riders this year will loop east around Turquoise Lake and pick the old course back up at the bottom of the Powerline descent. Outward Bound at mile 22.7, Columbine, the long grind home. All still there. It all nets out to 101.3 miles and 9,897 feet of climbing, which is roughly the usual amount of suffering, just slightly rearranged. With 116 Pro racers — 69 men, 47 women — on the starting list and rain hitting the course all week it’s sure to be a good one to watch.

You can find all the details of the course here.

Men’s Pro Field Preview

Keegan Swenson and Matthew Beers both sit at 54 points after Swenson’s second at Sea Otter and Beers’ win at Unbound. Alexey Vermeulen is third. In my opinion, Swenson is the obvious pick for the win here, what with his three Series titles, five straight Leadville wins, and the course record at 5:43:31. His season also includes handing his rear wheel to teammate Mads Würtz Schmidt at Unbound, which won him a lot of goodwill and cost him a lot of points. So with no funny business with drop bars this year and a new course, will this be the year the king of Leadville finally has something to worry about in the last 20-30 miles of the race?

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Lots of other men lined up ready to race but the big question remains is what the American Golden Boy Quinn Simmons will be able to do coming off his best Tour De France ever. His last time at Leadville was in 2019 when he finished second at the young age of 18.

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Lachlan Morton and Michael Woods are also on the men’s start list.

Pro Women’s Preview

On the women’s side, Sofía Gómez Villafañe has won both rounds so far and leads the Series. Cecily Decker is second after a five-up sprint for third at Unbound. Since then she went to a stage race, won every stage, and finished second overall behind only the top male rider –by three minutes. She was third here last year. Rosa Klöser sits third in her rookie campaign. And keep an eye on Melisa Rollins. The 2024 champ and one of only two women ever under seven hours at Leadville could be a wild card.

We got some photos of Rollins’ race day Liv Pique Advanced SL set up thanks to Liv Cycling and Garrett Payer.

There some other heavy hitters in the field as well, with Olympian Anna Gibson and former Grand Prix athletes Ellen Campbell and Michaela Thompson all on the start line.

Just when you think it’s a mountain bike race, you have Lauren Stevens using a front EVNE 6.7 Pro Gravel Wheel and a M5 Pro rear.

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We also have Hannah Otto in the house with her new custom Scott.

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Spotted: Some New Tech

Some new tech we noticed was the new wheels Cadex is deploying somewhat under the radar. No, these are not another brands’ wheel covered with a Cadex sticker. These are in fact new Cadex XC wheels that I’m sure we will get some details on soon.

And sometimes doing something new is the best way to get some well earned attention. Because it looks like our friends at Ventum have fully entered the mountain bike world.

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How to Watch

Race day coverage will begin at 5:45 AM MDT on Saturday, August 15th on the Life Time Grand Prix YouTube channel. You can expect live, on-course video updates for the women’s and men’s races. And of course a big shout out to the behind-the-scenes team at BCC Live who make these types of broadcasts happen.

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